Momentum
by GreatStorySponge
Summary: For most people death is the end. For one Naruto Uzumaki dying was only the beginning. (NaruSasu AU).
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Um hello guys… I did not intend to post this story online at first. It was meant to be written and put away to quietly rot on my hard drive. But eventually, as I got more in to it and the more fleshed out it became, I kind of felt sorry to leave it forgotten. So I decided to share it with you guys. I have absolutely no idea how long it will be. It might be five chapters long, or hundred and five… Depending on my plot (well it's hard to call the thing bunny, it is more like a Godzilla totally inconspicuously hiding behind the nearest skyscraper). I will admit after certain point I have no idea how the plot should go, but it will be a while before I reach that stage. Well hopefully you guys will like it.

 **Paring: NaruSasu (possible side parings). Mentions of NaruHina**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides my toaster…**

Chapter 1

The weather was warm and welcoming for the middle of autumn. A warm breeze carried heavy looking clouds across bright blue sky. Birds flew close to the horizon, almost out of sight. It was peaceful, if not for occasional cars that flew by on the quiet street.

Leisurely an old man walked down the sidewalk to unseen destination. Naruto could feel how his bones started to ache. Most likely it would rain soon. It was a new perk he acquired with age. He kind of liked it. It was like an in build weather station. At least he got something out of living past Frederick (the turtle he and his dear Hinata got as a present on their fifth anniversary), that and all the seats in public transport. It was not as if Naruto could not stand on his own two, but one might as well use the opportunity and, of course, lecture everyone about totally irrelevant stuff. And people listened! Because, supposedly the older you got, the more wisdom you had to share. Naruto snorted, yeah right.

Yep, getting old was not so bad, if not for occasional cramps and gasses. The gas part however was mostly other people problem, not his.

Pausing, Naruto scratched the back of his socked leg with the other one, while simultaneously rubbing his hands together. In hindsight, he should have opted for his trusty slacks instead of shorts. The ones Boruto was trying to throw away for years now. As if he would let the kid win, HAH.

The breeze was getting progressively cooler. Glancing to the side, he found a showcase window, displaying all sorts of hats and accessory. Hinata always held a soft spot for those. He could not bring himself to donate her considerable headwear collection after she passed away. Naruto adjusted his _cool_ sunglasses, no matter what Karin said about them being dated beyond funny. Screw you Karin, you would not know fashion even if it hit you with sledge hammer! It looked like his daughter, Himawari, (she grew up from a lovely girl, in to lovelier woman. Lucky son of a…Cough, lucky son in law.) was right about his beard getting way too long.

Shrugging, Naruto stuffed his foot back in to sandal and moved on.

The sun shone brightly, once it peeked out behind the clouds. Sun was one of the reasons Naruto wore his _fashionable_ sunglasses, other being…A young woman raced past him. She wore a plated skirt that rocked with motion from side to side, giving Naruto's starved eyes more than a good view.

"Now this is exactly, why I like warm weather so much." His cackle was interrupted by a harsh coughing fit. "Damn it!"

And there he stood, poor, fragile old man in the middle of the street, as literally from out of nowhere Naruto was roughly joisted by the shoulder. The motion was almost enough to make him spiral face first in to pavement. Naruto's hand shot out with surprising speed and the old man steadied himself on a nearby bench.

"Sorry, gramps!"

"Watch it punk! Hey, who do you think you call "gramps"!" Naruto hollered with considerable volume for someone looking so old and brittle.

"Seriously…kids these days. They just have no respect for old age." He sighted and sat down on the bench.

"Now when I was young…!" He never finished the thought, as the phone started to _irritably_ vibrate in his back pocket. He could already guess by annoying vibes, who was on the other side.

"Old man, where are you?!" A shrill and aggravated voice blared in to his ear. "We have been looking all over for you! You should have been home hours ago. Father is worried!" Oh, it was the harpy patrol, cough, he meant his darling granddaughter Karin, of course…

"Tell my meddling son, that he is my son and not my mother. That place has been occupied for a while. God bless her soul, good woman, but one hell of a temper and a measly kook." The old man visibly shuddered. Even after decades, Naruto could still remember how his mother used to look when angry. At one point he suspected she became possessed. Naruto could have sworn on his last bowl of ramen (well maybe not the last one), that she could honest to God levitate.

That woman AND her temper, could pack one hell of a punch as well. He trailed off as the loud voice pierces his memory loop.

"Wha…? Listen you, don't make me come over and drag you back from where ever the hell you are!" She went on. "You are an adult, a senior! You should be a responsible man. You…Hey, stop it! I know all you're tricks!"

"Kshh pshh, hey I can't hear you, the signal … kshh pshh, Karin…beep, beep." The old man hung up. Silence be blessed.

"Kids, why in the world did I think having my own batch, would be a great idea?" He said while picking his ear. A woman with a little boy passed him, the boy carrying a grocery bag, obviously trying to be helpful.

"Then again, they have their perks. Kids make great pack mules and remotes." He grinned.

Naruto got up and made his way down the street to the closest café. Since it was a lovely day, why not indulge in some sweets. He would have preferred ramen instead, but his nagging son, slash nurse, slash part time mother, forbade it. Something about cholesterol mirror.

And why the hell should Naruto care?!He was ninety nine years old!

He was bound to kick the bucket one of this days, might as well do it with a bowl of ramen in his hand. Sighing heavily, the old man dragged his feet, for some reason he could not muster up the heart to upset his son. Something about those worried eyes pulled at his beaten up conscience. Kids…

A young busty lady stood behind cash register. Well hello! All thoughts about upsetting his son (again) flew out the window.

"Well, aint I the lucky guy today." He wiggled his bushy eyebrows (Lee would have been proud, had he lived to see them), while lifting his sunglasses and shamelessly ogling the girl. He strode over with a light sprint in his step.

"You're order, sir?" She smiled politely, at his leering grin. "Old geezer" was left unsaid but definitely easy to read on her rapidly frowning face.

"Can you show me that donut?" He pointed to chocolate coated bun at the wary bottom of display window. The woman shot a suspicious glare, but dutifully leaned low to try and get it. Naruto's grin almost split his face in two, as he stared down her cleavage.

"Oh, yeah. That's the one, the-he-he-he."

"Anything else _sir_?" She glared harder as drool appeared on the old perverts face.

Naruto schooled his features into kicked puppy look that said "you know, you vuv me". It was supposed to look adorable slash cute…sometime thirty five years ago. Too bad Naruto never took to heart, when people told him that all it did now was make him look constipated. The young lady, however, looked ever so slightly worried and disgusted at the prospect that the old man might use their restroom.

"You see, I am old and I have the saddest of stories to share." Naruto leaned forward and wiped a real tear from his eye (HAH, somewhere an Oscar had his name on it).

"My life was never simple. I have to admit ... I am a ninety nine year old virgin…"Pregnant silence filled the air, somewhere a tray fell. "You see, I was saving myself for the one and only true love!" Naruto obliviously carried on.

"Wow man, that's sad." A customer said behind him. "No really, ninety nine year old virgin?"

"And I have met you, after all these years!" Naruto dramatically raised his hands. "Come let us embrace our feelings!" And in an instant he seemingly effortlessly swung over the counter, grabbed the poor girl by the waist and dipped her low, preparing to land fat smoosh. A kiss she would never forget, for he Naruto, was the greatest kisser with eighty years of experience tucked away behind his shorts! (Side note to self: do not forget your set of false teeth in her mouth that was kind of a mood killer).

Slow and shocked clapping filled the small café and someone was cheering, probably the guy that stood behind in line. Maybe he would learn a thing or two from Great Master.

Yep, Naruto still had it.

The woman, however didn't seemed to be even half impressed, in fact as his face grew closer, the more panicked she looked. Right after a shrill terror filled scream, a hand flew out of nowhere and slapped him so hard, Naruto saw stars. Short while later the world grew dark.

Distant voices filled the air. Naruto's head hurt like in his younger days after a night spend with coworkers. His dear Hinata always looked upset in the morning, after those nights. However, Naruto always found a way to make it up to her. Like for instant, real homemade ramen! Or help her in the garden, or… ah the memories.

"Is he dead?" Worried female voice pierced thru his pounding headache. "What if I killed him?!"

"Oh he would be, if he is not." A livid voice interrupted her. Mother! I swear to god I dint do anything to the mirror. It broke on its own! No! I did NOT play ball in the room, who do you take me for? Mom…put away that frying pan, I am you're only son! Oh… Nope, hold on. It was his nagging granddaughter, Karin…

Naruto slowly pealed an eye open. Surprisingly for someone his age, his eyes were just as clear blue, as the day Naruto hit twenty.

"He is awake." Now that was his son, he sounded…upset. Sight.

"We are terribly sorry…" Boruto said immediately. His oldest kid looked exactly like Naruto, but when it came to character, he came more after his dear Hinata. The old man was unceremoniously grabbed and forced to bow with his kids. Well Boruto almost came after Hinata. Ouch, that grip hurt and he bruised oh so easily, like a peach. He needed careful treatment in his old age after all!

"It will not happen again." His son went on. They kept on bowing (Naruto was forced to mimic mostly), as all three hastily made an exit.

As they reached the car, Naruto was none too gently shoved in to backseat and buckled up, like a little kid! Honestly, he was the adult here, the nerve of his child! He made some serious mistakes while raising the kid. Well... most of the time he was the adult (when he took his head out of his ass, how Karin the harpy, oh so kindly supplied once. See if you end up in my will!).

"Ninety nine year old virgin…?! REALLY FATHER!" – Boruto yelled.

"Watch the road son…" Naruto meekly imitated the voice of reason. Funny how no one did it for him when it was needed…

"Shut up! What were you thinking?! After mother passed away you became insufferable! That girl was young enough to be you're great granddaughter." Borutos voice steadily increased in volume, as his driving became more hectic.

"But did you see…"

"No! I do not want to hear another word from you, until we get home!"

"Aw come on, I almost had her." Naruto whined.

"Right and that print on your face is a love bite." Karin snorted form her front seat.

Naruto did the only intelligent thing a proud father, grandfather and great grandfather could do in this situation, he suck out his tongue at her. Karin rolled her eyes, behind neat glasses, flicking her red hair out of her face. She had inherited it from Naruto's own mother, along with some of the temper to go with it. God bless Suigetsu and his infinite patience, though Naruto would not blame the guy if he hightailed sometime in future. The girl (well woman now Naruto reminded himself) was immensely proud of her natural, vibrant red hair.

"Shut it you two!"

"But he/she started it!" Two voices sung in unison.

"I don't care!"

Rest of the trip was filled with sulky silence on Naruto's part, tense silence on Boruto's and bored on Karin's.

Three weeks later Boruto found his father dead with a worn copy of Icha-Icha paradise in the hand and surrounded by what looked like a mountain of ramen cups.

The funeral started out as quiet family affair and ended with half a town coming over to pay last respect to one Naruto Uzumaki.

"Well father, I guess everyone must leave eventually. I hope you see mother. Take care of her like you always did." Breathed Boruto as the coffin was buried on a lovely autumn day.

* * *

 **...**

Naruto pealed open one eye, what met him however, was not the usual bedroom he used to share with his dear Hinata. For a brief moment the old man wondered if he finally went blind. Everything was black. Until suddenly a voice spoke up:

"Naruto Uzumaki:

Born – 10.10.1919.

Deceased -7.11.2018.

Total life span: Ninety nine years, twenty seven days, three hours and fifty two minutes."

"And how many seconds?" Naruto couldn't help himself.

"That's irrelevant." A wall of text appeared, showing various numbers. Monotone voice continued to broadcast.

"Death cause: overexertion from excessive masturbation… Which provoked a heart attack? …Whatever." The voice sounded bored and uninterested. Naruto was almost insulted. He highly doubted there were a lot of men his age that could still get it up, much less use it.

"You had a son and a daughter: five grandchildren, two great grandchildren. Wife passed away on July 29th, year 2004." A kid appeared from thin air. He wore basic short sleeved white shirt and brown slacks. A bored look was plastered on his face that spoke volumes about things he saw daily. He scratched his short, brown pineapple tail and stifled a yawn as he absentmindedly scanned the wall of text.

"All in all, I conclude you had a satisfying life." The kid went on.

"Yeah, you can bet on it, I died a happy man on top of that! Hold on…who the hell are you?" The gears in Naruto's head started to turn. Was it? Could it be?!

"Oh my god…Are you GOD?!" Naruto screeched and promptly fell to his knees. No religion prepared him for the fact that God was a short two by four nose picking, booger throwing shrimp. Then again what did humans know?

"Please forgive me for all my sins (not that I have had any…)" Naruto was not above begging, when it came down to his immortal soul. After all, eternity was hell of a lot longer than one imagined, might as well spent it in comfort and who knows, the whole "hundred virgin" part might be true.

"And that I lusted after women. Lust is my only sin! But if you're a guy (are you? - Naruto got a glare), you HAVE to understand me… The magical pull that exists between…" Naruto got a solid kick in the face for all his trouble.

"Will you be quiet? I am not a God, well perhaps in some of human culture I can be seen as one and…"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?!" Naruto huffed and promptly jumped to his feet. "I could have spared myself the begging!" The man exclaimed.

"The Service End date cannot come fast enough. Five thousand years dealing with this crap, is five thousand years too bothersome." The boy exhaled.

"Anyhow let us continue." The boy was rudely interrupted _again._

"Say…dose hell have sexy she devils? And why are you a kid, of all things?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Well I figured, it is obvious I am not going to heaven (though if I am don't let me stop you) and the last one is just for the heck of it."

The boy was rubbing his forehead now.

"I wonder…Is there like a thousand of you spilt apart. I can't be the only soul you are dealing with." Naruto pondered out loud.

The kid looked surprised that anything remotely intelligent seemed to accidentally escape the old man's mouth. In fact, Shikamaru was impressed with how well this guy seemed to handle the whole "You are dead" part. Usually he went on a loop of explanation how they died and no, this is not a dream and nope, you can't go back. Lack of crying was positively refreshing from the normal fits of hysteria and bothersome demands to prove his "Godhood".

"No. The Structure takes care of it. You however, are a special case." Shikamaru yawned unceremoniously.

"Of course." The grandpas' chest puffed out.

"Listen, my duty was to meet you and escort you to your superior, who will fill you in." An elevator appeared out of nowhere. The old man looked impressed and finally shut up. "Before we enter you should assume a form." The boy carried on.

"Why the …Why is there an elevator?"

Out of all things to be surprised about, the guy had to gawk at an elevator. So much for being impressed.

This guy obviously had his priorities screwed.

"It is something humans are accustomed to these days. Six hundred years ago it was a boat, floating down the river. Anyhow, about the form you should…." Shikamaru trailed off as he saw a floating pie entering the elevator.

"Cool isn't it?! I will be the first talking pie!" It floated in circles "Be afraaaaid! I wanted to be ramen, but surprisingly my craving for pies won…Unusual. Think I am sick, or something?" The pie went on.

"If that is how you wish to look for another ten thousand years, who am I to stop you?" The boy deadpanned.

"What?!" The pie puffed out of existence and a young blond man hit the floor hard. Not giving the idiot any time to come up with more stupid crap, Shikamaru signaled for the elevator to start moving. For twenty blissful seconds it was quiet.

"What did you mean by " _Structure takes care of other souls_ "?" A surprisingly somber voice asked form somewhere below.

The boy turned contemplating brown eyes on the young man in front of him. He was not bad looking by human standards. Shikamaru assumed, the blond automatically fell back on his younger self. He appeared to be roughly around twenty four. Though, the clothing, Shikamaru grimaced, was still horrid. Honestly, bright orange Hawaii shirt and khaki shorts, with socks and sandals to boot? Could the guy get any more cliché?

However, there lurked intelligence behind the goofball, happy go lucky "I am an idiot" attitude. Arrival of a soon to be Colossus was always a grand event and this one guy was the most anticipated Shikamaru has ever seen.

"Exactly what I said". The boy smoothed out his features.

"Each second two thousand five hundred and three souls (give or take) arrive and Structure filters thru them. Some are send to purge, others immediately depart to earth to restart their cycle. You will be filled with finer details by your superior once we arrive." The boy started picking his ear.

"My job is to oversee the process as a whole. You can refer to me as Operator for now. And you should know that there are other Operators besides myself. We only step in if it requires manual control, or in special cases." Shikamaru concluded.

"Like mine…"

"Like yours." Shikamaru confirmed.

"Do… either of those things happen often?" Naruto finally got up from the floor and moved to one of the smooth steel walls, comfortably leaning onto it. There was no floor panel on any of them.

"No."

The short answer was surprisingly uninformative. The man looked thoughtful, something that seemed impossible a short while ago.

"So, what is it with me being special (not that I am not. I'm totally cool and important like that). And you mentioned something about five thousand years."

"My service time in structure runes down to five thousand years." The older looking man widened his blue eyes, but Naruto did not miss how the kid avoided first part of the question. "After which, I will enter short purge and will be send to earth, to begin my own cycle. Much like you would be, once you're time is up."

"Um…" Naruto's head was reeling with all alien concepts and _five thousand years_? How fucking old was this shrimp?

"Listen, I know it all is overwhelming right now." A surprisingly patient voice cut in.

"You will have time to warp you're mind around it. Do not stress. All you need to know for now is that all souls, that are currently serving and maintaining Structure Space, have a state of exhaustion, where they are replaced, so they could renew." The boy kept on explaining.

The elevator pinged, signaling that they have arrived.

When the doors whooshed open Naruto saw an endless maze of floors and metal ladders and vast, empty space between everything. The ladders looked like they emerged from fifties, sturdy and robust. Some of them were narrow where one person could barely fit others were wide and capable of holding up to fifty people in one row. However, levels looked far sleeker with large grey panels covering, what Naruto guessed were walls.

It appeared, the levels had no end no matter how far up Naruto tried to look, or how far down for that matter. After certain point everything was lost in darkness. Almost as an afterthought, Naruto realized by how much his sight has improved, even compared to his younger days.

This place was _enormous, gigantic and unfathomable_ in its size. Constant humming noise filled the air, like an unseen engine thrummed with energy. Naruto had a hard time figuring out from where the illumination came. As far as he could indicate, there was no light source to be seen. But what baffled him the most, were lack of windows. It was unusual for someone who spent his whole life in a city and was used to buildings of all shapes and forms. But Naruto knew there is no way something so _massive_ could be a building.

It was simple, even basic in its construction and yet like nothing the blond has ever seen.

He was without doubt fascinated.

"Follow me." The boy yawned and started moving.

Descending down the steps Naruto could not help, but stare wildly from side to side. Everything looked so different, yet for some odd reason familiar. What looked like people (or more like ants at higher levels), were constantly moving, each one with unseen purpose.

"Hey, about that exhaustion you mentioned, I wondered…" But before he could say anything else the railing started to tremble and with it the whole level shook.

Naruto saw, how others immediately went to the opposite side closer to the walls. From what looked like bottomless pit, around which the levels were constructed, appeared a large creature, its eye as big as Naruto himself.

Naruto could see his own reflection in its pupil as it rushed by. It looked humanoid… With a head and limbs bent in odd unnatural angles (not that Naruto was a big expert on humanoid looking giant ass…stuff). The thing appeared to be torn, feral and…most of all desperate. For what, Naruto could not tell, but the answer was spinning in the corner of his mind, just out of reach.

Eyes wide in wonder and fascination, Naruto stared. The boy was shouting something, most likely for him to step away or duck, but the blond did not listen, especially when thick chains shot out from the pit. They enveloped the creatures mug and unnatural form (Naruto could hear something eerily resembling a bone crunch when they etched in to its face) and started dragging it forcefully back. A pain filled wail resonated across vast space.

It was falling just as fast as it rose from the pit.

As it zoomed by on its way down, the blond recklessly leaned way over the railing to get a better look and that is when Naruto saw…

A figure stood on creature's head, a figure clad in everything black.

 _A figure_ with short ebony hair and fair skin and eyes… Naruto felt the way his breath left him, as if gut punched…eyes as red as blood.

They stood out among rapidly consuming darkness, like a beacon. Something painfully _familiar_ hooked at Naruto's heart and he sensed how the claw sunk in and started dragging his wildly beating heart. Dragging it along with the bound creature and those red eyes in to the endless pit, and all too soon the figure was gone.

A short bit after everything around Naruto resumed its movement, like nothing ever happened. Only Naruto's wild heart would not stop hammering in his ribs. It refused to forget and go back to _normal_. The blond was breathing harshly, as he strained to see more, to see something, _anything_.

Just one more look.

As he finally tore away his gaze and glanced over to his forgotten companion, Naruto wondered how close he resembled the feral and desperate thing in this very moment for the kid to take a step back. He needed to get himself under control.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto finally found his voice.

" _Who_ was _that_?" The question came out harsh and demanding. Naruto did not find it in himself to wince, or even blink.

"Oh, the outbreak was unexpected, but it happens from time to time. It was a soul in Deep Purge, also referred to as Carcass. Eventually you will deal with them, but not in the beginning off you're cycle and…" For the first time the boy's face looked alert, as he ranted off what was no doubt, perfectly memorized information. However, he was rudely interrupted by the blond.

"No I mean, _who was that_?" Naruto repeated himself.

"As I said it was a soul in deep purge…" Shikamaru tried again.

"I do not give a shit about that thing." Wild blue eyes became cold and piercing in a split second...

The boy shrunk and immediately took two more steps back. Naruto, no the man looked _terrifying_. Narrowed, blue eyes pinned him to the spot and suddenly, Shikamaru just knew why others anticipated his arrival so much. Even for a Colossus, he was intimidating and unfathomable in this moment.

"If you refer to the figure that subdued Carcass." Blue eyes hardened, ready to soak in any and all information. "It was a Colossus, something you you're self will be trained to become shortly."

It appeared Naruto had little to no interest in roles and his future training. Frustrated, the blonde growled, while gripping the railing tighter, his knuckles turning white.

"That does not tell me _anything_. What is his name? _Can I see him_?" His eyes were blazing with intent.

Wait…

Why was it so important, for Naruto to know who the other person was?

Why did it matter so much? He was _dead_ for pity sake. There were more pressing matters, like Hinata…

And Naruto paused.

After he arrived here (where ever the hell here was), he had not asked _once_ about his departed wife, or his children. Naruto undeniably loved his family deeply. He cared about them, so why…

Taking one more breath, the young man continued quietly.

"I meant to ask about my wife Hinata and my family. How are they holding up, I mean?" The boy (Operator, Naruto reminded himself) looked surprised by the sudden change of heart, but wisely said nothing.

"Your family is as fine, as it can be after losing someone dear and important. As for your wife." He taped the air and a screen appeared. Naruto briefly wondered how long it will take him to stop marvel about everything and when these new things will shift from new and exciting, to dull and normal.

"She died on July 29th, year 2004. She was processed" Naruto cringed at the choice of words, but the boy continued. "in seventy one second and send to earth to start her cycle."

"Can I see her?" Breathed the blond.

"Of course not." At Naruto's offended look, Shikamaru clarified.

"She has a new life. In fact she is a he now, in process of stumbling thru his first relationship. How do you think he will react with you appearing out of thin air and declaring he was you're wife and has two kids?"

"Oh…"

"Oh is right." Snorted the boy.

"But can I at least see her…Err, I mean him."

"I do not know what purpose it will serve, but sure, later anyhow. When you're training is complete."

That's right, Naruto will see Hinata (or whoever she was now) and everything will be fine. Hinata will set everything in their rightful places, like she usually did. As for that person Narutos body sized at the memory of _him_ , he felt how his hands became clammy, he would forget about him. _He was not important_. And it did not matter how much his bleeding heart protested at the idea.

 _He was not important._

 **TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** : Well here is chapter 2. Nothing much to add here besides I suppose it would be the most boring one, since its filled with confusing ( I am confused with what the hell I wrote, I can't imagine how guys would feel) stuff. Anyhow I hope my halfhearted attempts at explanations in this chapter would cut in…This chapter did not let me go until I worked it out of my system, so that's why this update was relatively quick. I'm not sure when I will add chapter 3.

 **Naruto:** bornOctober 10th 1919, died November 7th 2018, age -99 years.

Chapter 2

Shikamaru stood silently by Narutos side and surveyed the damage that has been done to Structure.

He was already receiving first data about necessary repairs, as did other Operators and every high ranking Body. Builders began scanning the area. They will fully restore Structure in approximately forty seven hours. Priority would be given to lowest levels and Purge Station.

Usually the numbers were far more accurate, but outbreak of this magnitude always left "underwater stones" in form of severed connections and fractured fibers.

He could see what Structure mended on its own, shifting and reattaching torn rubble. Judging by how far up they were, at least four Levels were torn. One Levelwas big enough to store planet Earth within it. And that meant only one thing…

The chase was given far too late. Judging by the size of the Carcass that caused this outbreak, it was residing in lowest levels of the Purge Station and thus it had to pass few more levels before it reached the Outer Circle.

It was most concerning, how close it came to what the Carcass, undoubtedly identified as freedom, but in reality ripping thru Structure and entering Functional Space, known as planet Earth with its current inhabitants. The damage that couldhave been done was…

Shikamaru got a headache just thinking about the consequences.

While this sort of outbreaks did happen from time to time, they were dealt with in the bud, before Carcass had even a chance to live home Level. However, all recent outbreaks happened when unit S-11921115 was on duty.

He was becoming a liability.

Something Shikamaru has been saying for centuries now. But did anyone listen? Of course not, hopefully after this episode Elohim would see reason and discharge him. Something that should have been done millennia ago.

Shikamaru glanced in Naruto Uzumakis direction as they slowly made their way to meeting area.

Right from the start Narutos reaction to everything was off, but Shikamaru attributed it to his age at first. While ninety nine years was by far, not the oldest Shikamaru has seen, some individuals managed to live well past hundred and thirty. Still, it was old enough for one to get to terms with your own mortality. In the end no one was really prepared to die, but after a certain point in life one knew, it was inevitable and almost hundred years, was more than enough time to make peace with the thought.

However, recent events have shown just how _off_ Naruto's reaction truly was.

While he looked surprised and awed with his surroundings, Shikamaru could not shake of the feeling, that on some subconscious level Structure was familiar to Naruto. For instants his absolute lack of fear when Carcass appeared was very telling. The thought was ridiculous and as Operator, Shikamaru knew it better than anyone else. He had intimate knowledge on how the purging process worked.

After the soul ended its cycle and entered Structure Space, it was processed and everything that made out its personality was stripped away, leaving a clean slate, with no memory or self-awareness.

Even if Naruto used to serve in Structure Space, at one or another point of his existence ,which was more often the case with all Bodies, any memory of it was erased a hundred times over by repeating process of purging.

There should be absolutely _nothing_ familiar in this place to Naruto Uzumaki.

There was also another matter for concern, the instant fixation on unit S-11921115.

He will have to address the issue with other Operators and high ranking Bodies. Unit S-11921115 was already unstable as it was, without unnecessary complications adding to it.

Breathing out slowly Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose. This whole matter proved to be more bothersome than expected. Tsunade did not have the temper needed to deal with this worrisome matter, not that he doubted her capability to handle _difficult_ and unexpected situations. Her temper however, was notorious and it could prove to be a hindrance.

On the other hand Tsunade might be the only one who could cope with potential...complication. He was already composing the report, he would give to Elohim. They made three more turns when heavy silence was finally broken:

"By the way, I never got your name. It is kind of unfair, you know everything about me. I bet even my shoe size is stored somewhere." Snorted Naruto. "And I don't even know your name."

"As I said…"

"No, hold on. Drop the whole "Operator" title thing." The blond went on impatiently.

"Here let me help you." At that Naruto stopped in the middle of long, sleek looking corridor and unceremoniously showed his hand in to Shikamarus face.

"Hi, my name is Naruto."

"Honestly..." Shikamaru could not help, but stare. This guy's mood swings were…baffling , at best. The grin on Uzumakis face however did not falter even for a second. Finally giving up, Shikamaru shook the hand in response.

"Shikamaru. You would have been told eventually by your superior." He grumbled.

"There, now was it so hard?" Naruto promptly stuffed his hands in pockets.

"Nah, I am old fashioned. So, how long till we reach…Um, where were we going again?" A nervous laugh escaped his mouth.

"I am escorting you to…"Shikamarus eyebrow twitched.

"Meet my "superior"." Naruto quoted the air. "I know that already."

"So if you know, why ask bothersome questions?" They kept on walking.

"I don't know…To break the ice? I have a feeling you do not like me…much."

At that Shikamaru actually laughed. Something he has not done in a while. After serving for numerous millennia, one became numb and exhausted. There was a good saying "bone weary"; it was as if fatigue was sewn it to his very core.

It was… a nice change for once, to laugh like that.

"No, you are annoying, but once you get past that…I can see why you had so many loyal friends and a happy family. You grow on people…Like fungus." Shikamaru snickered.

"Hey! That was not nice!" The blond huffed and started to walk faster, obviously insulted. "And here I though your mother taught you manners, kiddo!"

"Ouch, that one hurt." They walked rest of the way in comfortable silence.

* * *

…

Tsunade sat by the table and impatiently tapped her finely manicured nails on smooth glace surface.

The meeting area where usually "fresh meat", as she fondly named them, arrived and was filled in with necessary information, was pristine white. Nothing excess was present, besides a table and one seat. Everything that did not serve a certain purpose had no place in Structure.

Sometimes she missed the simple comfort that Earth could offer, especially considering how much it improved in almost seven thousand years. One thing Tsunade did not miss however, was the blazing sun of a land that was called Egypt now.

The two were running twelve minutes late already. Provided it was not Shikamarus fault, despite being somewhat lazy, the Operator was punctual to a fault, unlike certain _other_ Bodies.

Huffing, she stood up and started to pace, her hills clattered restlessly back and forth. Tsunade _could_ go thru the first batch of reports, that have arrived after some of the damage from outbreak has been mitigated, but then again she was not so desperate…yet.

Exactly thirty eight seconds later the door zapped open. Shikamaru looked as bored as usual, though, an air of poorly hidden amusement clung to him.

"I am telling you, I had no choice! She just pounced at me, it was all self-defence! Stop that! You look the same way Hinata did the moment as she saw us…Worst timing ever." The blond man was annoyed. His ringing voice bounced of the bare walls. Tsunade took the short opportunity, to evaluate the young man (and by all rights he was young compared to any of them) in front of her.

He was…average. It was the perfect word to describe him. Average high, perhaps slightly on the shorter side, average complexion no too thin not too fat, but somehow he managed to look sturdy, reliable.

Loud was another word that fit him well. Loud was his clothing , an orange eyesore for a shirt. And most of all loud was his voice. In fact it began to hurt her sensitive hearing:

"Will you shut up!" Tsunade cut in.

"You are late." Was her second statement and it was mostly directed at now amused looking Operator.

"Wha…" Enraged blue eyes snapped in her direction, but the blond (Naruto Uzumaki reminded herself Tsunade) trailed off.

"We got delayed." Yawned Shikamaru. "You should have received the reports."

Tsunade grimaced at the mention of them, so what if she found them _unnecessary_ (yes it was a good word, she should use it more often instead of garbage). Did Shikamaru have to rub her face in to it?

"Yes…Well… Your duty is done now." She frowned. "You can go and compose a _report_ about "job well done" somewhere in your corner."

"Will do. I will make sure to send you a copy first." With those parting words Shikamaru was gone.

Sometimes she hated him, but only sometimes.

Uzumaki kid was suspiciously silent the entire short conversation, that held place. Tsunade strode back to her table and comfortably leaned her hip on it, and folded her arms under her ample bosom. Her navy pencil skirt got caught on edge.

"I think introductions are in order. My name is Tsunade and from now on I am your Superior." She smirked. "You will answer to me. One of my duties is to supervise your training as a whole."

"Uhuh…Training…" Whispered Naruto.

"It may last anywhere, from fifteen to three hundred years, depending on your personal progress. You are here to replace one of the Colossuses that are currently in service." Tsunade felt how her eyebrow started to twitch. He had _yet_ to look above her chin.

"Right…Service…"

"You will meet him shortly. He will be responsible for your combat instruction. But before that you will have to make a short general full body check-up in Medical Bay. Sakura, who will eventually replace me as head of Medical Department, will perform it." Tsunade pressed her lips tightly and glared, too bad Naruto was too preoccupied with staring at her chest area to even notice.

She straightened up from her comfy position at the table and stalked over, heels clacking in annoyance. He was paying no attention to her actions. Raising her hand and placing middle finger and thumb to his forehead, Tsunade send one Uzumaki flying thru the air and straight in to closest pristine white wall.

"FOCUS!" She snapped.

"What the…What was that for?! I didn't even do anything!" The blond screamed from his painful looking position on the floor. Tsunade gave a full body twitch at his _instant_ recovery. Usually it took even most seasoned Colossuses at least a few minutes to recover.

"Did you even listen to a word I said?" At that he had the presence of mind to actually blush, as he got up.

"Of course I did!" - "Liar" was written all over the blonds face.

"Right." Tsunade snorted. "Back to the basics and eyes above my chin."

"Alright already, I was listening. There's no need to be so violent." Pouted the guy, as he scuffed his sandal clad foot on the floor.

"Your main duty, after you absolve the training, would be to deal with Carcasses that reside in Purge Station." She successfully ignored him.

"You encountered one on your way here." Tsunade did not miss the way his body stiffened at the mention of the outbreak. Something in his expression became closed off. Interesting…

She might have to look in to the reports and footage that went along with them, after all.

"Who was…" After a short bit Uzumaki seemed to have thought better of it and asked instead.

"What is Carcass exactly? I know the basic soul mojo part, that Shikamaru ranted off." She will have to definitely look in to those reports.

"I am afraid I will have to start from the top to answer that. Everything you see around you is called Structure Space. I believe Shikamaru should have mentioned it once or twice. Currently Structure runs down to thirteen Levels. One Level can store planet Earth." At Uzumakis round plate eyes Tsunade went on.

"We are currently in Residential Area. It's where all Bodies (except Medics) serving in Structure reside. Structure can expand or deconstruct according to the requirement. For instance at the dawn of Chronological Order, as we refer to Earths early state of existence, there were only there Levels present. It gradually expanded as the demand increased." Blue eyes stared back blankly at her.

"You should know that Earth had four stages called Chronological Order. We are fifth. Basically after certain time the whole Structure and Earth along with it…mmm…Reboot, would be the best word to describe the process. Of course I overly simplify it for your benefit. For humans it usually equals Armageddon, though it is nowhere near as dramatic."

"Can't you just download this crap in to my head or something?!" It seemed Uzumaki was finally fed up. _Good_.

"But most importantly: AM I DEAD? I hurt hell of a _lot_ for a dead guy, thanks to you." - He pointed an accusing finger at her.

"No, I cannot." And she finally grinned.

Of course Tsunade could grand him access to the Archives, but where would be the fun in that? Torturing recruits was one of the _few_ fun things in this job. One had to have an outlet somewhere.

Oh, she could not wait to tell him that there would be an actual exam on the basics when the torture…Erm…training was complete.

"You exist, as everything in this universe dose." She carried on.

"Transcendence: existence or experience beyond the normal or physical level. Would be the perfect word to describe our current state. Everything however, runs down to more basic concept – Energy. What happened to you is the same thing that happens on Earth to wind. First there is the wind, than there are waves on water. Or a better example - hydro power plant and the way it transforms one state of energy (water) in to another (electricity). Obviously that is vast oversimplification of both processes, the ones that happen at power plants and what happens to us after we end the cycle. However if you are interested I could go in to more details…"

"NO! No, I'm good. I got it." Naruto began vigorously shaking his head.

"Now that we have gotten this out of the way, back to Structure." A groan was heard in response. "Shut it! You need to know and memorise this, so pay attention…"

"Hold on, if this "Structure" thing is as _gigantic_ as you said, or maybe your pulling my leg here, then how come no one back at Earth has ever seen it or even knows about it?" The blond looked as confused as ever.

" _Because,_ it exists in entirely different plane then Earth dose. Humanity in general has very _vague_ concept on what is going on around them, much less on what happens after they die."

"So…Structure is the extension of Earth? Am I right?"

"No, _Earth_ is Structures extension and is commonly called Functional Space." Naruto looked even more confused if it was possible.

"Don't strain yourself too much, your head might explode." Tsunade got a glare for that one.

"The question you should be asking is not how or where it exists, but " _what it does_ ". What is the Structures purpose, why are you and I here? What it _does_ is convert one state of existence in to another and back. _How_ it dose it, or why it functions the way it does, I do not have the answer. Or more precise – I am not authorised to know and neither is it required in my field of responsibility."

"And who is? Authorised I mean."

"The Elohim." At Narutos questioning look, Tsunade clarified.

"Elohim: is what most commonly is referred to as God. They are the council, in total there are ten members present at all times, never changing. Everyone else has a service time in Structure. Mine is seven thousand years and yours would be ten thousand. They are the only ones that exist right from the beginning, when the Structure first emerges from "reboot" and begins its Chronological Order."

"So they are the ones who start the Armageddon?"

"No. And that is the only common piece of knowledge available to us about Elohim. They, much like everyone else, are Purged once the time comes. Structure has its own cycles, that it follows."

"So, why the hell are the numbers so big? I mean ten thousand years?!" Naruto stared.

"You have to realise how _old_ the Structure is. Ten, hundred thousand even a million years is nothing to it." Tsunade reminded.

"And that is where we come back to your first question- Carcass. Carcass: are souls that have accumulated enormous amount of heavy experience. Let us say you pick a flower or break a leg, it is all experience. Your thoughts, interactions with other people and most of all your feelings make you who you are. There is another form of experience: murder, violence, uncontrollable lust or rage. But let us take murder as example, after the deed is done the person is changed once and for all. It may not look that way at first glance, or it may not _feel_ that way, but the imprint is left and the more imprints have been accumulated, the more damaged this being becomes. After the inevitable death, it lands in Structure and is evaluated. After that, it immediately is send to Deep Purge, to remove the experience and be restored to its former state."

"Um…There is no punishment?" Naruto sounded incredulous.

"The purging process is _not_ _pleasant,_ far from it actually." Snorted Tsunade.

"The Purge in its own right is the punishment. That's why every single one of them tries to escape it. They want solvation from the constant pain. Imagine, if your skin was peeled away over and over again to lay your bones bare." Naruto winced.

"And let me tell you, peeling the skin is nowhere _near_ as painful, as actual purging. After process is complete, they are send back in to Functional Space at the bottom of "food chain". It takes them several cycles to even acquire a sparkle of conscience."

"But isn't everything erased anyway, as one dies? I mean my wife Hinata, she doesn't even know about her earlier life! " For the first time Tsunade was surprised. The question was sober and reasonable for once.

"While this is correct." Tsunade downloaded some addition background on Naruto, to better understand who he was referring to. "Your wife Hinata started her cycle as a human, as do most others. And yes, before you ask, it is more convenient to be a human then a slug."

"How so?" Genuine curiosity could be seen on the man face. "I mean, it does not make that much of a difference in the end. Does it?"

"No. On the contrary it makes _all_ the difference. Human thoughts _shape_ the Structure. Look around you, everything you see is familiar. You know it. Table, chair, clothes, in other words everything was replicated from humanity. While Earth is Structures extension however, it is Earth that provides Structure with necessary resources, not all but some of the most vital. Not to mention awaking time of self-awareness for those souls, that have been human for many cycles, is incomparably higher than those, who were send to Deep Purge. They are always given preference, over those who just entered their Cycle as a human." Tsunade explained.

"In other words, living conditions they start out with, are _by far_ better. You can see this, as some sort of reward system for those, who did not need Deep Purge. Of course, it does not mean that a child born in, let us say, Sweden instead of Africa for example, would never become a serial killer, or a pathological liar. In the end everyone craves their own path." She stated.

"And to warp everything up…I expect an essay on everything we discussed in twenty seven hours from you." Tsunade smiled. The loud groan that escaped from the blond was priceless.

Yep, definitely most fun part of the job.

"What the…I am all of sudden back in grade school or something?" Blue eyes widened in horror.

"I know! I died and this is hell and everything around me is a hallucination!"

"Oh stop dramatizing. It will take you only twelve pages or so." Her smile grew wider.

"No! No, I will not write another…"Tsunade interrupted the blonds rant by cracking her fingers.

"On the other hand…twelve pages are not _that_ big of a deal…Right? Right!" Naruto nodded with determination.

"Do not forget, you need to visit Medical Bay. I will instruct Sakura to brief you in, about your Body and its functions."

"What about it? I have two legs and arms and…" The blond trailed off as he saw Tsunade twitch.

"I believe not even you, are so dense to not have realised, how different it is from the one you had back at Earth. There are some basic things you would need to know before you begin the combat training under Kakashi." Said Tsunade.

"And Kakashi is…"

"I suppose it slipped my mind. Kakashi is the Colossus you would be replacing. His duty would end in two hundred and eighty seven years from now. I believe we are done here, get going." She snapped.

"Right, right. No need to be so pushy." Pouted Naruto. "By the way how old are you?"

"Six thousand five hundred and three years." Said Tsunade absentmindedly as she contacted Sakura to brief her in.

"Damn… you are _ancient_ no wonder you have mood swings…Old hag!" Tsunade should remember to add to Narutos personal data that the kid had suicide tendencies…later.

For now she sends one Naruto Uzumaki careering thru the solid wall and straight in to hallway, the Structure immediately began to mend the damage. Gods this kid would prove to be a handful, what hell did she do to deserve this?

* * *

…

The area was black and eerily silent as usual. Nothing ever changed in this Level, always vigilant in its silence.

"Unit S-11921115 you have been summoned in front of council due to recent outbreak." The voice was cryptic as it narrated the recent events.

"Four Levels have been torn until you took action. The delay was…most concerning as was the damage it caused." A short pause was made."You are aware, if you continue to _fail_ to perform your duties, you would be removed and the Sentence would be executed ahead of time."

"Yes."

"You are given last warning. Dismissed."

Hushed steps were the only thing resonating in silence.

Sasuke leaned heavily on the wall once he was securely inside the elevator. Everything _hurt_ , but especially hurt his left arm. The one he used to discharge in to Carcass. Most likely trapezius and pectoralis major were damaged and pronator teres was torn. He will have to drop by Medical Bay and get his arm restored.

Exhaling softly Sasuke run a shaking functioning hand thru his black hair and dropped it heavily at his side. Coming after his duties was harder with each passing day, not to mention year. He was not sure, if he would last another two hundred forty seven years and hundred and seven days.

Tired blood shot black eyes stared blankly at his reflection in sleek steel door. Pale ghost of a person looked back at him. Closing his eyes did not help much ether.

All he saw was the resent outbreak and wide _blue eyes._

It was most unfortunate that they met each other now. It was never meant to happen in first place, since Sasuke's Sentence was meant to be executed before _he_ arrived back in Structure. In fact, the man was supposed to stay in cycle on Earth for another twenty thousand years.

But of course, the idiot _had_ to go and screw with it somehow.

"Like usual…" Breathed Sasuke.

Best course of action would be to avoid _him_ entirely. Thankfully it was not so hard, considering the sheer size of Structure. One could exist here and never meet ninety percent of Operatives working in it.

With that thought in mind Sasuke slid to the floor. His feet refused to support him any longer. He will need to file in a request that would hopefully be granted this time by Elohim.

Sasuke did not have a proper maintenance in well over four millennia. His Body was running on patches made here and there. It was a struggle just to force it to _move_ not to mention subdue Carcass. Shutting his now aching eyes tightly, Sasuke supposed he brought this all on himself. If it wasn't for the _idiot_ , this all could be over much sooner. But of course, the _hero's_ , Sasuke sneered, personal request made shortly before his first cycle began, bound the council now.

Sasuke sat on the floor rest of the ride to Medical Bay.

 **TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry, for those of you who actually waited for an update, took me longer than expected, finally got it done. I will be honest I am not sure yet if I continue this story. Seems it is not so well received. I honestly have a lot of fun exploring the concept that was created and share with you guys. Especially fun is writing Narutos misery after Duty. Cough. There will definitely one more chapter where he will get royal trashing from Kakashi, because I just can't give up it now. Anyway hope you like this chapter.**

Chapter 3

Naruto groaned and picked himself up from the painful heap on the floor. Maybe calling a woman that could send you flying with only her middle finger „old hag" was not the brightest idea the blond ever had. He honestly wondered if he could file a complaint in this joint, there was obviously an abuse of power going on!

Looking up he saw the wall just as immaculate as if it never had Naruto Uzumaki shaped hole in it. He still had trouble warping his mind around this place. It all felt surreal, well the splitting headache felt quite real thanks to certain hag (yes, it was matter of principal now and who cared if the nick name was unmotivated in first place, Naruto certainly didn't).

Naruto glanced from side to side, the hallway was completely empty and the constant humming sound was muffled here. Stuffing his hands deep in to his pockets Naruto leaned heavily with his back on the wall and stared at the ceiling, he still could not figure out from where the illumination came. He was carefully avoiding all thoughts about the outbreak and the person...

" _Why are you still lingering in the hallway like mentally challenged, kiddo?_ " Tsunade cut through his thought process like hot knife thru butter. " _Didn't I give you instructions?_ "

" _OLD HAG?!_ "Naruto could _feel_ the angry tick thru whatever link they shared momentary. "What are you doing in my head? Ever heard of privacy?!"He screeched in the empty corridor.

" _Stop screaming like a little girl and get a grip of yourself._ " She snorted. Nope, it was set in stone, Old Hag she will be. " _You can stop sticking out your tongue at nothing. It does not help ease the whole mentally challenged vibe you have going._ " Naruto yelped and promptly snapped his jaw shut. How did she know?!

" _Because I have eyes everywhere and I hear everything. You cannot hide from me."_ She gleefully added the last part.

" _Will you get out of my head and quit reading my mind! Its private you know!_ " He mentally screamed at her. An impression of heavy sight could be felt through the link.

" _Thoughts have the same volume even when you mentally scream._ " She deadpanned. " _Anyhow, back to the start. Why are you hanging around like a braindead in the hallway? You were supposed to head to Medical Bay._ "

" _Well, I would have if someone didn't send me flying like a sack of potatoes. That hurt you know!_ " Naruto sniffed. „ _Besides, I don't know where to go. It's not like you gave me directions when you threw me out._ " He added.

" _Oh..._ " Naruto sensed a faint feeling of embarrassment from the other side. Guilt pangs? Nah...Can't be. " _Yes, well if someone had manners and knew how to treat a lady..._ "

" _Hey! I know how to treat a lady. I can always give you first hand demonstration of Uzumaki charm._ " He waggled his blond eyebrows at her, well at the empty wall in front of him.

" _...You know when you inevitably land in my medical care I will make sure you will regret the day you were created._ "

" _Alright, alright already, sheesh, no need to be so touchy, besides you really aren't my type to be honest... Too old._ " He grinned.

" _Why you little piece of..._ " The link was shortly interrupted and a moment later he was smacked with a map and directions on how to reach Medical Bay. Words „ _ask for Sakura_ " and „ _you piece of *#%_ " were forcefully pushed in to his head and then the link was angrily slammed shut.

That went well.

Naruto refused to acknowledge his fault, besides it was fun to press her buttons...when there was a wall between them...not that it would save him or anything in the end. In hindsight he should know that officially he just dug his own grave.

Whelp, might as well get going, now that he finally got the route. Naruto straightened and cracked his neck. It was really fascinating how automatically he knew the lay out of this enormous thing called Structure. Tsunade sure as hell was not joking about its size. Naruto blinked and in front of him appeared a blue greenish projection of the whole thing, much like the ones you would see in sci-fi movies. The only difference - there was no visible source from where the projection came.

Now Naruto had a clearer concept of how the Structure looked, at least in theory. It was shaped much like a skyscraper, a round skyscraper with a hole right in the middle. In fact, the more Naruto looked the more Structure resembled a well with relatively thick walls instead.

The thing had what looked like sections. Naruto counted thirteen large sections. Each was divided by a small buffer zone. He was automatically informed about each section.

First Level: starting from bottom, was a mostly empty zone with only one thing in it. The Gate of No Return - the projection shimmered and zoomed in on the first Level so Naruto could see its layout.

The thing called Gate did not resemble one at all. It was a sealed hole that took up to one third of the ground. The blond deliberately ignored exact numbers that were immediately pushed in to his head. Who the hell cared? He sure hoped he will not see numbers and metrics for every damn _sneeze_. When Naruto tried to get more information on the Gate he came back with a total blank as answer. Most likely the hag did not grand him full access to whatever data this place kept.

The Second Level was vacant – a large buffer zone between the Gate and rest of the Structure. The projection showed five divisions in the Level, each of them geared towards security, outfitted with massive hatches that were currently open. Whatever this Gate of No Return was, it was strictly monitored and kept under a tight lock.

Next five Levels were displayed like one big zone under a name – The Purge Station.

Each Station had what vaguely resembled a centrifuge in the middle. A mass of white, pink and what strongly resembled general body parts slowly rotated clockwise. Naruto cringed and zoomed out immediately. The blond could see how each level was divided in sections, like cake layers, each of them rotating at different speed and some of them going in opposite direction. The comparison made Naruto gag. Anything even remotely food related after what he just saw made his stomach turn out on itself. He briefly wondered if one could feel hunger here.

The whole Level had a glasslike cylinder encompassing it from top to bottom with large and smaller pipes attached to the thing. It looked like those pipes were constantly pumping in and out some substance. Whatever the heck it was, Naruto sure as hell did _not_ want to know, ever. He made a brief scan of one Purge Station in general and saw how it was literally sewn with ladders and platforms. For Colossuses benefit, so they could easily access each part and maneuver within the Station, the explanation immediately popped out in his mind.

Level Eight was largely vacant as well, besides occasional buildings. Training Area –where he would probably spent most of his time in the foreseeable future.

It had vast empty space designated to accommodate and absolve most severe training, then form what Naruto had glimpsed of Tsunade and how _easily_ she dispatched him with only two fingers, it would not be a stroll in the park. Old Hag was supposedly the Head of Medical Bay and a medic herself, which meant perhaps the most basic of combat trainings.

All of a sudden Naruto realized what kind of deep shit he was in. Ten thousand years... And before that he would spend few decades as someone punching bag...Now Naruto was no stranger to military, he entered his civil life as lieutenant colonel. That however did not mean he was keen on relieving his whole military career and eat dirt all over again. Exhaling slowly, Naruto made a mental note to see if he could get out of this whole mess.

Level Nine was Residential Area. Naruto could see himself displayed as a bright dot in the projection. It's where all Bodies serving in Structure resided, except Medics.

Builders were the most massive Cast in Structure. They were responsible for repairs and general maintenance of it. In total Structure housed five million one hundred ninety nine thousand three hundred and eleven Bodies, Naruto included. Exactly five million - were Builders.

Naruto could see now how they hustled and bustled in Levels from four to nine. The Purge Station was mostly reconstructed by Structure itself. Residential area was the liveliest of all Levels, tightly packed with buildings that hung from walls haphazardly and living quarters here and there. Somehow Naruto could not shake the feeling that this place exhibited.

It looked like some sort of medieval future.

The whole Structure had an archaic vibe to it. But despite the fact that a large frigid hole was in the middle and took up half the space, around which everything was constructed, the Level still looked _empty_. The sheer size just boggled Naruto's mind.

Next Level was Medical Bay and supposedly his destination point.

Buildings were littered over vast plane, some of them were tall enough to reach half the Level. Right in the middle was a gigantic spiral like screen that shielded the hole where in other Levels it remained open. Lights danced in Medical Bay here and there. Medic Body count was currently at one hundred ninety eight thousand.

The Medical Bay was divided in two large sections, one where they rested and another one for working. Medics rarely left their Level. Only once in current Chronological Order was this Level evacuated. Naruto blinked, his clear blue eyes narrowed in concentration as he tried to get more information about the incident, something told him it was important, essential for him to know. However all his attempts were in vain.

No matter how much he tried the answer was nothing. It only spiked his frustration. How much did the Hag lock behind a wall? With a flick of the wrist he dispelled the projection, but it stubbornly flickered back to life and projected the next level.

Level Eleven was empty. Honestly so much wasted space. Naruto frowned. Than ageing Earth wasn't so tightly packed ether. Still...There was no blueprint projection of this level, just its general purpose -Elohim Residing area.

Next Level was where Naruto first appeared and met Shikamaru. It's where all souls entering Structure Space landed and were processed, evaluated and send to their according places.

Three hundred operators were stationed around perimeter. Massive walls of text were constantly moving in front of them. They monitored general processes in Structure. In the middle was a giant funnel. It looked quite pretty Naruto decided, colourful. It's where all souls were processed.

Record of his first appearance played in his mind's eye.

A thread of bright light, brighter then all others shone in the mass of strings. Pure white with mixed golden and orange hues separated itself from main stream and a split second later landed right behind Shikamaru. The Operator carefully with his hands detached and unruffled remaining connections it held to the stream and other threads in it. When the deed was done Shikamaru stepped down. Immediately the wall of text spilt in two flows and was redirected to two closest Operators.

The thread left a bright trail behind as it coiled in the air in various shapes, bright enough to force other Operators to briefly look up from their task. Naruto saw how Shikamaru tiredly rubbed his forehead as he narrated everything that was projected in medium sized screen. Few minutes later an elevator emerged from the ground, Shikamaru stepped in closely followed by the thread.

Well that was...informative he guessed. Not pondering much on the whole bizarre feeling Naruto had in his stomach from the recording, he switched to next Level.

Planet Earth with its natural satellite was projected. Yes, Level Thirteen was Earth. Immediately all unnecessary details and data were jammed in to his already aching head. He kicked the projection in annoyance. Last thing that was shown before it flickered a few times and died, was Earths electromagnetic field. It was roughly three times Earths radius. Naruto could see how bright threads constantly moved back and forth dissolving within the field.

At next attempt to give him more data, Naruto groaned and threw his hands in to the air as he stormed off. To hell with this! He was going to Medical Bay.

A navigator immediately materialized in his mind steering him in to right direction and selecting the closest route. Well, he had to admit. This was neat. No way would he ever get lost with this inbuilt wonder. Showing his hands deep in to his pockets, the blond slowly made his way down brightly lit greyish white corridor.

No soul could be seen.

After few turns here and there he was in front of what looked like a generic boring elevator. It immediately pinged and whooshed the doors open. Stepping in Naruto was carried from Level Nine to Level Ten.

Few minutes later he was standing on the rump and surveying the whole Medical Bay from birds view. It looked like a collaboration of sci-fi and early twenty century slapped together. The light was dimmer here, main source of it was the flashing mass of white that moved within the giant spiral like case, that connected domelike ceiling (cough, if you could call it that way) and ground.

Medical Bay unlike Residential Area was not divided in to floors.

Naruto was navigated to the closest platform. With gentle hum it sprung to life and carried him down. He got closer to the Bodies he could see moving here and there, the hushed noise finally reached him. Their noses were buried in holograms that projected various numbers and sometimes body parts, or cell groups. The blond stood on his platform not daring to step out.

Somehow this whole place was filled with so much purpose, a gentle voice cut his thoughts short, making him jump in place.

" _You must be Naruto. Sorry to interfere, but I saw you lingering. I am Sakura. I updated the data and gave you my precise location. It should be easier for you to navigate. I know this place can be... overwhelming._ " Naruto just blinked and stared dumbly in to empty space.

" _When will you people cut it out! It's scary as all hell you know!_ " He huffed and crossed his arms on the chest. A gentle laugh filled his head. Sakura huh...

The blonds face split in two, then ageing he could deal with her budding in to his head.

„ _I know it's quite annoying at times. Anyhow, I am waiting._ " and with those words the link was cut off. Well, let's not keep a lady waiting!

With light spring in his step Naruto hurried in right direction. Few minutes later he was in front a new looking building, twenty seven stories high, by far not the biggest or longest. Not bothering much with anything else, the blond stepped in.

In the middle there were three platforms. Stepping on one of them Naruto was carried to seventh floor. People were constantly moving in the building here and there. It looked rather busy.

He was navigated to one of only two rooms on the whole floor. As he entered, he saw a spacious room filled with desks in neat rows. It was mostly white, but some flashes of colour could be seen here and there. Behind each desk sat a person. Some of them were busy pouring over statistics. Others were consulting whoever was seated in front of them.

To his right in fifth row was waiting Sakura?

He hurriedly made his way to her, waving all the time. This action got some odd stares from other occupants of the big room. She just smiled good naturally at him.

Sakura was a young woman (Watch out, it's a trap! They are all young looking!) with gentle short pink hair and deep green eyes. She was dressed in what looked like white and red nurse coat. It was mostly white with red shoulder patches. It had clasps on the side and ended at her knees. Leaving pale shapely legs open. Naruto's smile became even brighter. Who the hell cared how old she was, she had the legs!

The blond unceremoniously plopped on the empty stool beside the desk and tried to look nonchalant and sexy at same time. He waggled his eyebrows at her. Sakura however just rolled her eyes and chuckled in return.

"Yes, Tsunade gave quite a colourful description of you." Naruto involuntary cringed. What the hell did the hag say!? She probably ruined his good first impression!

"I see you still haven't changed the outfit you arrived in." At Naruto's frown Sakura explained.

"As all bodies you received an interactive fiber outfit. It can change its appearance according to your desire. Thought, there are some dress codes that needed to be followed, especially for Colossuses since the outfits' primary duty is to protect the wearer." She smiled and added. "Here, think of something."

Naruto slowly blinked and a moment later his orange Hawaii shirt started to shift and morph. Not three seconds later the blond was seated in front of Sakura in a full body hotdog costume complete with tinfoil cap. The one he wore at Boruto's tenth birthday. The one Hinata spend two weeks on, and made a matching one for Boruto.

Don't ask...

Naruto's face became bright red.

"That's...That's not what I wanted at all!" The blond sputtered and hastily jumped to his feet, so much for his first cool impression. Sakura bit her lip in wain attempt to hide her smile, a few grunts later that suspiciously sounded like laughs she said.

"There are some standard blueprints I can give you. You can adjust it…" – at this her voice thinned out, but remarkably fast she got herself under control. "…later to your taste."

Naruto hastily grabbed the first blueprint, as it popped out in his head. It was a black full body fitting thing with turtle neck and gloves. Everything was one solid outfit. No colour or anything, Naruto will have to tinker with it later...He noticed how green eyes run up and down his form appreciatively, washing away some of the previous embarrassment like balm. Slightly calmed he sat back in to the chair.

"There we go. Now that we have this out of the way let me run a brief scan." Her deep green eyes became neon green and thin cyan ring appeared around each pupil. It run in circle, as eyes rapidly shifted taking him in.

"All vital functions operate properly, there is no sign of any derisive processes. That was to be expected, since you just received the body, but still necessary to reveal any minor shifts that could potentially evolve in to future problems."

"But isn't this Structure thing responsible for the body construction? That means I could have gotten a defective Body?!"- Naruto's voice carried faint notes of hysteria.

"No. We work with motto „Better safe than sorry" here. There was never a case of a faulty body. This scan is mostly necessary to get a clean comparison slate for future references. To help immediately identify any degenerative process in its embryo stage." And then Sakura smiled. "Might I remind you wanted to be a pie at first."

Naruto's blush came back with vengeance. He felt how roots of his hair became two shades darker.

"I thought it would be funny..." He grunted.

"Of course." Sakura's eyes kept on scanning. "You are not the first prankster who thought it's funny. We constantly receive Bodies of various unproportioned shapes and forms. Structure, it seems has a sense of some bizarre humour too. We had a guy recently who thought giving himself a head half the size of its body, would be hilarious. You know the Chibi concept." At that she briefly looked up and winked.

"Anyway, as he exited the elevator his face immediately collided with ground, breaking his spinal cord and fracturing facial bones." Naruto cringed at that. Ouch. "Needless to say he found it not so funny." Sakura concluded.

"What did you do?" Some sort of morbid fascination held Naruto's attention.

"Well, we dissolved the whole Body and painstakingly regrew it back based on his twenty seventh year. It was the prime time for his earthly body." Finally bright neon eyes reverted back to clam green.

"Um…what would have happened to me if I stayed a pie?"

"Nothing much" She shrugged.

"You would have flopped to the floor and sat there like a plant. Well less than a plant. All your senses would have been cut off. It's like being in a tightly sealed box. You probably would have gotten a strawberry filling." Sakura chuckled. Naruto did not find it funny one bit.

"We would have proceeded much the same way like with previous joker. Dissolving and growing back. I suppose, I should say thank you for sparing us all the work." Green eyes twinkled in amusement.

Naruto sat brooding for few minutes. This whole pie thing seemed so hilarious and original at first...

"Um…Why do we get human looking Bodies in first place?" The blond asked as he finally got out of his funk.

Sakura blinked at him and stared. Why did people keep doing this? It wasn't like he was an idiot. He could think too you know.

"Why invent a bicycle all over again? The human body is intimately familiar to any and all who land here. We know how it works and no time is wasted teaching us the most basic manipulations."

"From what I saw Structure can just import knowledge directly in one's mind."

"Yes, but this is still inventing a bicycle all over again and waste of resources."

Naruto frowned and shifted eyes to his hand. Unfolding it from his chest and turning it palm up, he flexed his fist a few times. He knew how to use it. He lived with that knowledge for almost ninety six years. Not counting the first three years where he learned the loops.

Sakura was right, it was familiar and reliable.

"I wanted to ask. I have noticed how there is so much empty space in Structure and only five million something people work in it. How come?"

"Residential Level can easily house up to ten billion Bodies, this amount however is not necessary now. Most repairs and constructions are done on its own. Builders are here to maintain and supervise the process and work with finer details. We Medics take care of everyone within Structure Space, making sure you guys can run properly, ourselves included." Sakura explained.

"This vast space you see was constructed in anticipation of earth's growth spurt, as population grows more and more. Larger amount of Carcass will stay within Structure. Currently there are five purging Levels. They are loaded approximately up to ten percent each. I believe one of Operators can answer more precisely if you want." At that she began checking the profiles residents in the room.

Naruto vigorously shook his head in refusal. Sakura just smiled.

"One Level takes several million years to be constructed. At first in beginning of Chronological Order there are only three Levels, the Gate, Residential Area and Elohim Level. Purge Station is the first thing that is constructed. If you really want to understand this whole process better, contact a high ranking Builder. I believe one of them is here now." Sakura's eyes glazed over as she searched.

"No! No it's all right!" Naruto hastily interrupted her. "Besides I am more curious the Gate thingy. I saw its layout and a whole buffer zone between it and rest of Structure."

"There is not much information I can give since it's not my field of work." Sakura frowned. "Kakashi, your instructor would be able to answer more fully. The only thing I know, the Gate is there to dispose of Carcass waste. It's some sort of sink."

"Anyway this is not why you are here. My duty is to explain the most vital changes between the body you know and this one." She straightened out in her seat.

"Yeah, like people constantly budding in." Naruto grunted and Sakura chuckled in return.

"I know it can get frustrating and believe me it will. This is like an inbuilt phone you could never turn off, but you will grow attached to it rather quickly. It's the most convenient thing." She explained. Naruto perked up at the knowledge.

"So I can send spam messages and no one can block me? Hu-Hu-Hu." An evil glint entered his blue eyes.

"Um, the thing is if you become too overbearing, others will track you down and..."

"And what!?"

"Beat you in to a bloody pulp. We had few accidents like that, so use it wisely." Sakura sympathetically patted him on the knee.

"Oh..." Naruto's new found vigour immediately deflated. Honestly no fun in this place.

"So let us proceed. First you should know that you can identify anyone within Structure. You will get their general profile. Try it. I unlocked some functions. Usually they are closed at first to avoid overwhelming one with unfamiliar data. Some of those profiles might be lock under a wall. It means its ether Elohim group or Unit S-11921115." Naruto stared, when did she do that?

He looked at her and a blink later in his mind's eye he saw her profile.

Sakura Haruno – born in 28.03.1895. Entered Structure Space in 29.12.1950.

Duty-Medic.

Status – in training.

Superior – Tsunade. Supervisor – Tsunade.

Residing time in structure – 68 years.

Approximately estimated training time – 144 years.

Potential Head of Medical Bay material.

Naruto's eyes became wide, so she wasn't that old after all! One more point in her favour. He ignored for now the whole Elohim thing, or how his mind immediately latched on to Unit S-11921115.

"Say, did the old hag...I mean Tsunade force you to write essays too?" Naruto leaned closer suddenly remembering „I hear everything" part and whispered. Sakura's eyes became wide and she leaned even closer raising her hand and lowered her voice considerably.

"When I asked other Medics, or even Builders about essays they just stared at me and said their Superiors gave them full access to Data Bank and general directions about things they needed to know. She forced me to recite from memory the whole Nervous System under one minute once." A split second later Sakura hastily added. "But you never heard it from me."

"Right, right." Naruto straightened up and they both glanced around as if expecting Tsunade to materialize from thin air any moment now. Beads of sweat run down their temples. Somehow Naruto could not shake loose the feeling that shared misery brought them that much closer together. Sakura loudly cleared her throat making Naruto jump in place.

"Let us continue. With navigation system you are already familiar, so there is no need for me adding anything." The blond shakily nodded in confirmation.

"We approached the most vital change of them all. How durable your new body is compared to the old one. I know you briefly saw Carcass on your way to meet Tsunade. This one by far was not the largest of them. You could probably already imagine how much force is within one, if he ripped through Structure like tissue. Let me just say that if you are hit by a 220 mm caliber with full force." Immediately in Naruto's mind appeared Heavy Flamethrower System TOS-1 Buratino, which fire rate was 30 rounds/15 s. "You won't even get a scratch." Sakura smiled with satisfaction at him.

"But if that thing dispatched a full round in to me?!" Naruto's voice became slightly panicked.

"Nothing. You would remain standing in the middle of a burned out wasteland. And it doesn't even begin to cover how truly durable you're new Body is. Kakashi will introduce your true limits in his training sessions." She kept on narrating obliviously.

Now Naruto definitely knew he was in deep, _deep_ shit.

"You know what? I don't want to be a Colossus thingy anymore! Nope!" He promptly jumped to his feet. "Send me back to earth! As a toad or toaster, I don't care! I'm not doing this!"

Sakura heavily exhaled.

"Calm down. It's not so bad."

"Easy for you to say all cozy here in Medical Bay between making syrup out of people and sticking your nose in to graph charts!" He screeched and threw an accusing finger in her face. Making few heads turn their way.

"This is not so fun ether, to be honest I think Colossuses have most gratifying task and..."

"I don't care!" He cut in and prepared to storm off.

"You do not have a choice anyway." At his horror filled face Sakura continued.

"We are all picked according to our inner algorithms, as you saw the mass in Level Twelve where Operators reside. Each thread is different by its size and colour. Some are brighter others not so much. But in the end we are all different. Even when all memory is washed away, we still remain more gifted in one task or another. Sooner or later it shows in your earthly path." Almost as an afterthought she added. "Besides if you continue to refuse, you would be just stripped of your memory and filled with necessary information and send off to do the duty anyway."

"So this whole thing is glamour up slavery?!"

"Pretty much." Naruto did NOT like the sound of it one bit.

"But honestly first of all you would not be alone." She could not stop smiling, somehow Naruto all of sudden found her less appealing. This was a serious matter! Couldn't she see? He will be beaten in to a meat stuffing on regular basis! Besides „not alone" didn't sound so reassuring. "Kakashi, your trainer will accompany you and work will be split between the two of you."

"That's the problem." He groaned and sank in the chair. " This whole thing will be _painful_."

"Of course, pain is the most basic indicator, that something is wrong with system and you should immediately notify me or another Medic..." Sakura paused in her tirade.

"Oh, you meant it as in _painful_." He stared flatly, as finally she caught the drift. Sakura smiled.

"Being a Colossus is beyond anything you might ever experience. The sheer power that thrums within you and the things you would be capable off, not to mention the pain tolerance is so much higher than anything else..."Suddenly Naruto understood why she was a Medic, as glint entered her green eyes and she descended in detailed explanation of his new Body abilities.

He heavily sighted and slumped in his chair. The whole prospect of „We will leak out your brain and fill it back putty" if he refused gnawed at him. He supposed it would not be so bad, the whole experience. He knew for a fact others would gladly trade places with him.

* * *

 **...**

Waving back to Sakura, Naruto headed to the exit. His head was still digesting new terms and he wondered when the massive flow of information will finally stop.

Sakura mentioned something about shifts, he briefly wondered if he would eventually cross paths with...Naruto blinked and frowned, forcefully dragging his mind back from the incident.

Yes, Naruto strictly referred to what happened as „Incident" now.

The less he was emotionally invested the better. But something gnawed at him, something starved and desperate. It was residing in back of his mind right from the moment his eyes collided with red. Red eyes, that made complicated patters, so bright.

Naruto's feet carried him deeper and deeper in to Medical Bay. He was supposed to head to Kakashi, who would instruct him about shifts and begin his training. Naruto however was not so keen on getting his face beaten in so early on. Thus he decided to take his sweet time. It wasn't like he would be going anywhere soon anyhow.

Naruto blinked. This area of Medical Bay looked mostly empty. Fewer bodies were moving in it. He immediately identified it, as secluded area where some of the Colossuses got their treatment. Something in Naruto stomach coiled painfully and he bit his tongue. The Colossus he saw needed no treatment.

The memory immediately sprung to mind and Naruto's bright blue eyes glazed over. He was back in Residential Area on floor fifty two, when Carcass from Purging Area - Circle four broke the Structure matter and rushed by him.

He could feel the gust of wind as it sailed by. Unfamiliar metrics filled his vision. But it was not what had his attention. Naruto's feet carried him deeper in to restricted area. No, what held his attention, were chains that had faint blue-purplish wisps on them and a blink later the Carcass was falling. Wailing and groaning as it was taken home, like a distorted mirror image of a crying child that wanted to stay longer at a playground. Naruto was leaning over railing in his mind's eye…

He stopped dead in his tracks and shut his eyes painfully tight, cutting of the image. No, he would not let his mind wander, not yet. Later when he was done with his shift and training he would depart to his quarters...

Where did this thought come from? Why was it so familiar?

Opening his eyes the blond stood in front a rundown building. Structure provided less resource for its maintenance. The concept was still alien. The one where Levels slowly expanded, where old building were demolished. Somehow it sounded so frustratingly human.

At first when Naruto saw this place he thought it was created this way from day one. Carefully planned and executed. Obviously this was not the case. Structure always grew and shifted even within itself, creating new paths and hallways, like living flesh. Naruto entered the building not really sure what he hoped to find here. Most likely nothing made out of nothing. The walls were yellowish instead of white. Naruto could actually feel the flow of time in this building. It looked well used and past its prime time. Somehow it was a novel experience.

Naruto slowly made his way up the spiral staircase. The steady hum of unseen engine could be heard from here. The blond stopped on third floor and looked down the hallway it was narrow with various doors. Next floor looked pretty much the same.

Really, what was he doing here?

There were other fascinating places to see, especially in Medical Bay. Unhurriedly he reached floor twenty two and entered identical looking hallway. His footsteps resonated in relative silence. It was peaceful. Maybe this was why he picked this building, because it made him feel at ease and let his constantly wandering mind rest?

He stopped in front one generic door. It was open like rest of them and slowly blinked. He still didn't look in to the room. Steady rustling noises could be heard from it. Like someone was gently scrapping on wood with their nails. Finally Naruto turned his head in the direction of the noises and looked in.

Naruto's pupils dilated and shifted rapidly taking in every detail and committing it to memory archive to be worn down later with constant replays. He knew he would replay this moment over and over and _over_.

The pastel white looking young man seated in chair stared back with bottomless black eyes.

Naruto turned his full body and faced the door. Those black eyes narrowed a fraction in silent warning, but the young Colossus ignored it. Naruto took in the face. It was thin and pale. Even more pale then last time (his mind compared the image it had to the one it saw now). The mouth was slightly open and slow, shallow breaths were pulled in thru cracked dry lips.

Naruto's hand involuntary twitched by his side as he slowly traced all cracks in those lips.

Black bangs framed the perfectly chisel face. They looked messy and unkempt. Naruto could see tangles in them. He took a step in to the room, with other step thick black eyelashes lowered over blood shot eyes that carefully watched him in return.

Naruto's eyes traced the pale neck and his hand gave another twitch. He wanted to _touch_ , just to see how the skin would feel beneath his fingertips. Would it be cold or warm and inviting? The man's simple black fiber suit revealed half of left chest area, which was cleaved open exposing his muscle and bones. In fact the whole left arm was just bare bone. The big machine close by steadily worked - reattaching muscle tissue and blood vessels back to it.

Naruto was fascinated as his eyes slowly evaluated the young looking man in front of him from head to toe. He took another step. Those tired looking black eyes blinked and they were black no more. They blossomed with complicated patterns, black on red.

„What...?" Someone asked behind Naruto. „You are not supposed to be here. This is a restricted area." A brief pause was made. A pale looking young man with glasses appeared in front. Kabuto – Medic, current service time three thousand and eleven years, the blonds mind absentmindedly provided information as he briefly shifted his eyes to take in the new arrival and retraced them back to red ones.

„I am afraid I will have to ask you to leave, Naruto Uzumaki. Your training session is due to start soon, you better hurry." The man had a hologram of a left arm with detailed musculature floating next to him. Naruto ignored him as he took one more step.

„Sight, listen if you do not cooperate I will be forced to remove you myself. You are interfering with medical procedure." Another step closer.

„Alright then, if you would have it no other way." The white haired man unfolded his hands from his chest and clasped his shoulder. Those red eyes became a fraction wider and Naruto tensed.

Everything happened in slow motion.

The medic – Kabuto attempted to force lock his right hand behind his back, Naruto's left hand twitched in response, his pupils retracted and he grabbed the man. Various metrics immediately sprung to life. The Body would not be incapacitated if he performed the move now. However if he turned his corpus to the left by three more degrees and applied four point eight percent more force he would get enough momentum to damage cervical area, which would fully incapacitate the medic Body.

Split second later Kabuto sailed in to the wall to his left and a sickly crunch could be heard.

Naruto slowly turned his head back to the young man still seated in front of him. The machine peacefully continued its work, never stopping. Naruto could see how twenty seven percent of the procedure were complete.

The blond advanced closer. Those red eyes narrowed down. The expression remained passive and detached as always.

Naruto crouched to his eye level and slowly run his eyes up and down, one corner of his lips slowly rising in a half hearted smile. He could see those eyes calculating how much of a threat he was right now.

Naruto smiled. He was no threat. Not to him.

Slowly raising his hand Naruto caught a stray strand of soft, but dry black hair between his fingers. He could spend rest of his existence like this, just crouching in front of the man and stare in to his eyes. He was still carefully tracing each feature and safely tucking it away, when a sharp pain blossomed in right side of his neck. A syringe briefly flashed in his peripheral vision as the world started to swim.

The pale face was becoming more distorted with each heartbeat. Red eyes still spun hypnotically and one breath later the world grew dark.

 **TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well, as promised here is one more chapter. No Naruto trashing by Kakashi unfortunately, since it kinda got a bit longer then expected. Thank you guys to everyone who stuck around and read. Thank you all for kind reviews, but I will put this story on hold. I might pick it up later, thought i will not promise anything.**

Chapter 4

Sasuke sat there, heavily breathing. His eyes were aching from added strain. He could feel how few blood vesels brust, making them water. Naruto's lax body slid to the floor, coiling at his feet. Sasuke's cramped fingers finally released the syringe. It was disturbingly easy to plunge the needle in to his neck, considering the outburst few seconds ago. The fact, how much this man trusted Sasuke to let his guard down like that, left an uneasy feeling with bile like after taste in his mouth.

The syringe held a specially designed "soporific" to help his Body black out and replenish resources used up during missions. That's how Colossus functioned. In hibernation, one could hardly call that state sleep, they refiled energy and healed up minor wounds and dislocations, as well as sorted thru meaningful events that happened during vigilant state. In Sasuke's case, after exceeding allotted time and constant intense usage, his Body could not shut down on its own properly, which in turn could result in him blacking out during shifts. So Medical Bay provided him with necessary drugs.

After sixty eight seconds Sasuke finally managed to get his breathing under control and even it out. He carefully shifted his weight, mindful of still working machine, to get a better view of Kabuto, who had passed out on the floor.

Walls in Structure were pretty much the same. They were made out of material that vaguely resembled spray foam insulation, used on Erath for buildings isolation. The pore like fabric allowed it easily to grow and extended in various shapes and sizes. Despite fragile appearances, the fabric was made to last for millions of years and beyond. From time to time certain sections were replaced by Builders. Obsolete buildings were demolished and excess material freed from them, was used in newer framework. The only exception was the Purge Station and Hallow, where the Gate was located. Everything in it, starting form ladders and ending with walls, was reinforced several times.

The Carcass that broke out recently was an old one. It was in Deep Purge for almost seven millennia. Enough time for it to mutate and develop external bone tissue that served as some sort of chain mail. Why was it that Carcass could develop such abilities and were granted with these kinds of Bodies within the Structure, Sasuke never bothered to find out and frankly he did not care.

Sometimes his interest was vaguely spiked. What one had to do in order to end up in purge for several millennia? But it always was only temporary curiosity and understanding every process that happened in Structure Matter, would not help him in the least. In fact all this additional information would clog up his already heavily overloaded mind. His own Body was initially made to serve only for ten thousand years. As is usual with everything in Structure, it had certain margin of safety that provided additional five thousand years of reliable usage. Sasuke painfully swallowed, he overstepped the limit long time ago.

Kabuto's chest rose with shallow breaths. Sasuke could see how a several inch deep imprint was left in the wall. Judging by power of the swing and how awkwardly Kabuto's body collided with it, cervical area was a mess. And that was the intention. It was fairly impressive how someone without any training what so ever, could make a decision on the fly and choose the most optimal amplitude, to achieve such result and with minimum effort to boot. Most importantly, Kabuto's Body would be perfectly functional after brief intervention. It was not spurt of the moment kind of thing. Sasuke knew all too well how those looked: ugly, messed and broken. This was a perfectly calculated and executed move, meant only to incapacitate and nothing beyond that.

Blood shot red eyes briefly shifted to unconsciousness blond on the floor. They should have forcefully shipped him off to Earth and executed Sasuke's sentence in piece. Now…Now everything will be far more complicated.

Elohim were always far too sentimental when it came down to Naruto. Stupidly so. There was absolutely no logical reason for them to postpone the judgement for such a long time. As soon as Naruto departed to Earth after the incident, Sasuke should have been wiped. It was the safest option. Elohim had no obligations to anyone within the Structure, except Structure itself. But they hesitated and unexpectedly decided to honour Naruto's request.

Sasuke could feel how beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Sharp pain was throbbing behind his eyes and spreading to temporal region. Naruto was always special, but only much later did Sasuke begun to realise _how special_.

The raven was tempted to kick the stupid idiot, but decided against it, main reason being his arm which was still under reconstruction process. Any sudden movement could result in jarring and the whole progress made thus far would be thrown out the window. Half his nervous system was carefully disabled by Kabuto, but as the process of restoration went on, it was systematically sewed back in to tissue and the pain was gradually increasing. Soon it will overlap everything else and Sasuke feared he might pass out. Kabuto was supposed to monitor the process and intercept the signals. Everything should have went smoothly and definitely less _painful_ , but then the idiot showed up.

Out of thousands of buildings, how did he end up picking this one? It was located in a desolated area, where Naruto had absolutely no business roaming. Sasuke knew that all new arrivals were sent to Medical Bay for instruction and their first check up, so the medics would have a comparison slate. If he had the option, the raven would have held out visiting the Bay until twenty seven hours have passed. Sasuke kept on telling himself, that it was all paranoia talking and there was no need to put any extra effort in avoiding the man. The Levels were large enough for anyone to get lost in. Especially in Medical Bay, where about 25% of buildings were set up for demolition.

Looking now at the mess, Sasuke knew his initial instinct to avoid Naruto like the plague, was right. Like, so many, many times before, he had underestimated the blonds capabilities and dedication. Had it been anyone, but Naruto, he would never remember the promise. Had it been anyone else, the Purging process would have wiped them clean over and over again until nothing was left, but white noise. No attachments to anything, or anyone.

Sasuke sat there wondering, if anyone who was supposedly in charge of overseeing him, had any idea who this man really was? Of course they didn't.

Red eyes carefully swept over the prone body:

Naruto Uzumaki – born in 10.10.1919. Entered Structure Space in 7.11.2018

Duty- Colossus.

Status – in training.

Superior – Tsunade. Supervisor – Kakashi.

Approximately estimated training period – 205 years.

Sasuke snorted and then winced; the movement made him slightly pull the left arm. The blond was slow, but not THAT slow. He doubted Naruto would need more than forty years to grasp the basic, even that was a stretch. The raven immediately shut down any information on Naruto's private earth life. It was none of his business, who the idiot mated during his cycle. No, what interested him, were his older files.

Every soul that existed, had a separate data bank attached to it, a bank, which stored any and all information about its progress during current Chronological Order. Beginning with the first entry in to Functional Space, Earth, as a simple multicellular organism, it is carefully monitored and all its stages during the span of several millions of years are recorded. This data is available to anyone with in Structure, but no one really looks at it. It is stored in archives, much the same way any data about Earth and its progress is stored.

Sasuke kept on sweeping thru entries, as expected nothing worth of attention was in them. The past thirty four thousand seven hundred and fifty three years were as bland and uneventful, as one might imagine, except for two curious blanks. First one occurred three thousand five hundred and seventy two years ago and lasted two hours and eighteen minutes.

The second occurred two thousand and twenty four years ago. It was a bit longer and lasted seven hours and nine minutes. Someone edited both of the events out. Sasuke had an inkling, who might have done it and the reasons behind this drastic decision and what they were trying to conceal. Sasuke accessed Earths general archives and yes, the time perfectly corresponded with the curious blanks in Naruto's personal data base.

Two thousand years ago Earth reached a milestone and begun its development in new state.

But why cut it out in first place? A simple "restricted" would have been sufficient. Red eyes narrowed. The young looking man was taking deep breaths, lids restlessly moving, blond lashes fluttering in sync. His mind was sorting thru memories, putting everything into neat shelfs. Soon it would shut down since Naruto's lucid state was relatively short lived.

The only valid reason for editing personal, sensitive information like that was because of carrier himself. Whatever it was, Naruto was not supposed to get a hold of it. Or maybe he would. Much later, when he was prepared for inevitable.

For Sasuke's execution.

Sasuke shut his aching eyes and set them in to normal state. Obsidian, blood shot eyes opened once more and swept the room. Everything in Naruto's data before thirty five thousand years was simply restricted behind a blank wall. Much the same way Sasuke's own personal information files were hidden. There was no use trying to brake in. It was designed to lock out anyone and everyone including the Operators, who in turn possessed tremendous amount of computing power. And neither did Sasuke need to. He knew exactly what happened almost thirty five thousand years ago.

" _You are clearly thinking about something too hard. I can see the frown lines._ " Kabuto's voice cut like hot knife thru butter.

" _Seventh cervical vertebrae is fractured and sixth dislocated in my Axis. This was a surprisingly accurate throw. He went straight for the most sensitive area, which would leave me virtually useless and have enough impact to black me out and at the same time, this type of damage is easily fixed._ " Kabuto paused. " _Naruto Uzumaki, huh? A curious one he is._ "

Sasuke had no power in him to be annoyed at the idiot, for making himself stand out like a sore thumb in mass of grey. The pain was gradually mounting. The machine was still systematically working, following the algorithm coded in to it. The arm was at 31%. Fiery pain flared and travelled unrestrained thru the whole body, making nausea rest in Sasuke's throat. God it _hurt_.

" _Have you notified Tsunade?_ " Kabuto went on.

" _No._ " He has not. In fact, it should have been the first thing he did, after taking out Naruto. So why hadn't he? It was not like he was in any position to hide the incident. Ah, yes. He was too preoccupied by studying the man at his feet and committing the face to memory archives…

" _Have you notified anyone at all?_ " Silence was the answer. An annoyed exhale left Kabuto's lungs. " _Honestly, you know the protocol. There is no use trying to protect him. Everything was noted and will be send…_ " kabuto's words turned to static noise in the background. The pain blossomed in ravens mind, staining everything. All rational thought gradually left. If he had the power, Sasuke would have outright told Kabuto. But as it was all his consciousness effort went in to breathing.

 _Inhale. One, two, three._

 _Exhale. One, two, three._

 _Inhale. One, two…_

" _On the scale from one to ten how painful is it?"_ Kabuto's voice rung sharp in his mind. " _Sasuke concentrate! I need to know!_ "

" _Eight._ " Kabuto's eyes must have been just as round and big as his glasses. Kabuto was his personal medic, shortly assigned after he absolved his training. He was the one who did major work in patching Sasuke up. So Kabuto knew if anything deserving an eight was as serious, as it could be. He was also the one who kept on bringing up the issue of Sasuke's Body being a total train wreck and that it needed a proper maintenance. As far as he knew Tsunade kept on pushing this issue with Elohim as well.

Too bad Structure hated wasting resources. And properly fixing Sasuke up was a total waste.

" _Good, keep on the breathing exercise. We cannot afford you overloading and blacking out. The damage to your neurons would be irrevocable._ " Sasuke knew exactly what would happen if he shut down. It happened once; right after Kabuto was assigned to him. A particularly vicious Carcass broke free and it would have been fine, had he not been running on last reserves. His nervous system was literally fried, unexpected crash of Body resulting in sensory overload.

Sasuke spent a better part of the following week in stasis state. Kabuto restlessly worked carefully sorting thru burned channels and restoring them. One would think sawing time, by simply fully replacing the nervous system, would be a more preferable solution, freeing up the tied up medic to attend to others in his charge. But no. Apparently, time was the only resource Structure was willing to waste, since it had no real concept of it.

" _I have notified Tsunade, as well as requested two medics. The medics will be here in 133 seconds. Keep on breathing, do not worry I handed them all the information they will need._ "

And that was all Sasuke could do, keep on breathing.

* * *

…

Tsunade's heels resonated in silent halls of old Medical Headquarters. This building was set up for demolition even before Tsunade's time. Washed up yellow walls, empty grey openings, that should have been windows, but they were far too mismatched and stood at odd angles. Though not the aesthetic was the reason why it became abandoned. The inner layout of the building was poorly made, with no thought, or practical use. It was funny how such irrational things could exist in Structure Space, otherwise so full of purpose.

As Head of Medical Bay and on top of that the Superior of one particular _idiot,_ Tsunade was the first one notified. Thankfully just one report was send to her from Kabuto. She suspected once unit S-1192115 was in stable condition, he would file another one and of course the exceeding report from one mentally challenged kid himself. Tsunade will have the most pleasure beating the truth out of one Naruto Uzumaki.

Honestly, what was _wrong_ with the kid? He was in Structure not full six hours ( _hours! A new record no doubt_ ) and he had dispatched a medic, while roaming places he had no permission roaming.

All incidents between Operatives within Structure Space were treated with utmost care. While not unheard of, they were still few and far between. Unlike on Earth, here was no reason for conflicts. No one was ought to murder you for extra penny or two, or violate you, since there was no sexual drive to speak off. Here was also no room for rivalry, no reason to upper cut someone to get a better position, since being in charge gave no real benefit, neither could you slack off. Everything was carefully monitored and noted and if someone pushed their duties on someone else, they were immediately singled out and dealt with. But most importantly each and every one had a purpose, a purpose people lacked on Earth. Everyone was on their right place, doing what they did best.

So that's exactly why conflicts are treated as something out of the norm, especially where physical force was applied. All Bodies were engineered for specific tasks. Medics were made with sensitive ocular receptors to monitor and scan inner processes. Their hands had additional blood vessels and bone structure that allowed more precise movement. Overall body structure was light and musculature average. Tsunade's own Body was reinforced after she became Head of Medical Bay, to withstand additional strain. Along with few other chosen medics, Tsunade performed operations on Colossuses, due to unexpected reflexes, which may occur during treatment, their own bodies were outfitted for the task.

Kabuto was an odd ball, much like his main charge. He had the potential to be next Head instead of Sakura, but Elohim declined when Tsunade proposed his candidature. His personality did not meet the requirements. Though his analytical capabilities were that much higher than Sakura's, he had a tendency to let slide seemingly unresolvable issues, ignoring them as a whole. Looking back now, Tsunade had to agree, that ability to pursue the issue to very end was far more vital then analytical power. The only time Kabuto tried to push anything was with Unit S-11921115.

And that brought Tsunade to Kabuto's charge: Unit S-11921115. Sasuke. Yes, Tsunade managed to find out at least his name, which in itself was odd. Everyone within Structure Space had a name instead of issued out serial number. While more often than not names repeated themselves, everyone always knew who they were referring to. An image along with personal sheet of data always accompanied the name.

But Sasuke's case was special. Not only did he have a serial number, but it had no image of the Colossus attached to it. It was just that, a bunch of numbers. Tsunade was sure they carried some meaning, but all it did, was make Sasuke appear impersonal. Like he did not exist within Structure Space. Except he did and latest outburst proved it. Somehow it all boiled down to Sasuke and Naruto. Tsunade will have to contact Shikamaru, she grimaced, and demand a more detailed report on Naruto's first arrival in Structure Space. She will get to bottom of this.

" _Kabuto how is Sasuke doing? Is his breathing stable?_ " But first things first, she had two patients on her hands. " _One of new arrived medics will restore your Axis. It is a simple enough task. Do not worry, he is on his way. Sakura will collect Naruto and transfer him to isolated quarters, so he can sleep it off._ "

And when he woke up, Tsunade will punch him back to sleep, just so the kid knew fighting in _her_ Medical Bay and damaging personnel was potentially _lethal._

" _Sasuke is stable for now. Who will perform and monitor the restoration of his left arm?_ " Kabuto sounded genuinely worried. No wonder, so much of his personal effort and time was sunk into Sasuke. It was only natural he would get attached. While personal sympathy was not necessarily welcome in Structure, it was not prohibited, as long as it did not interfere with duties.

" _I will. It is a sensitive enough matter, without brining anyone outside._ " Tsunade's heels kept on clicking. She would reach her destination in 38 seconds.

" _I would hurry, if I were you. Uzumaki is steering…_ "

"WHAT?! Are you positive?!" She came to dead halt in the middle of washed up corridor. The hum in the air was lauder. Most likely the Purging Station was tunnelling more resources.

" _Of course I am._ " Kabuto sounded vaguely insulted. " _His vital signs are in active stage, much like before Colossuses exit hibernation._ "

"But this is ridiculous! Sasuke's soporific was designed to knock out standard Colossus Body! It is literally impossible for him to wake up THAT quick." Tsunade's voice bounced from yellow time worn walls.

" _Not so impossible it appears._ "

No, the soporific assigned to Sasuke was made specifically to act quickly and put any Colossus in deep sleep like state for seven hours. All Colossus Bodies were similar, if not to say the same with very minor differences. Their bodies could endure a tremendous amount of punishment and then some. All tissues had a certain structure, making them elastic and flexible to certain degree. As well as allowing better absorb punches and collision with hard objects. But most fascinating was muscular tissue. Not only was their fiber capable of more frequent reductions. It also had high conductivity potential, allowing Colossus to channel vigour practically unrestrained to any part of their Body. So the drug was designed to put most process in low expenditure state and keep them that way. It would take a new chemical combination entirely, generated by the subject to overcome that.

A new Body type…

" _Sakura I need a full report and scans on Naruto Uzumaki now!_ " Tsunade snapped. She could feel how the girl jumped on the other end of the link.

" _Ah…Yes, of course! I will immediately send the files over._ " One thing Tsunade liked about Sakura, it was how operative the girl could be, if it weren't for her occasional daydreaming.

" _Good. Now tell me, have you noticed anything different about Uzumaki kid._ " Tsunade could feel the big question mark floating thru the link and rubbed her forehead. " _About the Body he came with. Had it any…divergence form the norm?_ "

" _Um…No. It was as standard as it could be. I checked him twice, before sending him on his way to Kakashi._ "

" _Nothing at all? Come on, strain your forehead a bit girl._ " Tsunade kept on pushing. There had to be _something_.

" _I…no! I swear. It was just that, a Colossus body with all their perks and temporary disabled functions._ " Hold on…

" _Which functions did you restore?_ "

" _Well…I enabled the standard protocol: access to any Operative personal data, basic metrics to help gauge the exact distance, angle or speed and a wider scope for visual sensors. The usual…_ " Sakura sounded exasperated, much the same way Tsunade felt.

" _You said that. What about muscle tissue?_ "

" _At human level, meant only for basic movement._ "

Tsunade speeded thru visual data Kabuto send her, checking it for the fourth time in span of last fifty seconds. While medic Bodies were not designed for combat, they were not exactly fragile, far from it. Especially considering Kabuto's duties of patching up Colossuses and when he entered Structure Space. There was no way, someone who entered Structure Space just five hours forty eight minutes and twelve seconds ago, could dispatch someone like Kabuto. Especially with no effort. How the hell did the kid do it? Did he somehow override Colossus Body defences? Judging by the angle and speed…

" _Hate to bud in, in whatever you might be brainstorming, but you need to hurry. Sasuke is at his limit, but that is not the issue. Naruto began to move._ " Kabuto sounded mildly worried.

"SHIT!" Shit, shit, shit!

Tsunade's heels immediately resumed their rapid clicking. She was almost there, two more doors. As she rounded in to the room, first thing Tsunade noted was Sasuke's laboured breathing, the left arm was over 34% complete. This in turn made her grimace. There was no time to waste. Second thing she saw was how the blond on the floor by raven's feet groaned and brought one hand to his no doubt groggy head. With two strides Tsunade crossed the room and unstrapped one more syringe from Sasuke's right thing and with little ceremony plunged it straight in to the kids fore arm. Activating her ocular sensors, which made her eyes glow neon yellow, she scanned the prone body, noting how unusually slow the drug was working. Had the body build up resistance? Just after one use? Finally the young man relaxed and fell back in to sleep like state.

"Who the hell are you Naruto Uzumaki?"

" _Good question._ " Kabuto made her snap out of her pondering. Tsunade will analyse all data later. Right now there was another pressing matter, which required her full attention.

"The medic will be here shortly, along with Sakura. They will handle you two." Tsunade absentmindedly mumbled, as she overstepped the prone body on the floor.

Leaning over Sasuke's left arm, Tsunade spread the fingers of her right hand, making index and middle finger along with thumb, split in to spider like tendons. They were very flexible, allowing bending them in any and all directions. Neon yellow eyes were rapidly moving, the deep brown ring around each pupil kept on spinning, as Tsunade traced neuron patterns. Carefully she injected her tendons in to radial nerve and begun to intercept the signals. A deep exhale left Sasuke's lungs and his body became noticeably more lax.

"I must say, you did most thorough job on him. Considering the train wreck like state he is in. The only reason he keeps on functioning at all, is you and your patches."

" _I am flattered._ "

"You should be. I do not give compliments easily." Tsunade's lips thinned out. "What are they thinking, keeping him in a state like this? He is virtually useless."

" _I am sure they...have their reasons._ "

"Sure they do."

A heavy silence filled the room. Both of them were aware that, whatever reasons there might be, they had to be severe. The silence lasted until Sakura along with other medic arrived. Kabuto was carefully lifted in to hammock like transporting device. It hovered few feet above the ground, gentle blue light shone from its plastic like handles, located near head and feet of the patient.

"How long was he knocked out before he began steering?" Kabuto was just escorted out the room, as Tsunade asked the question.

" _I take it for nineteen minutes, give or take two._ "

Nineteen minutes. Tsunade watched as Naruto was gently lifted by Sakura from the ground, same device was laid under him and then it lifted the unconsciousness body from the ground. Green eyes sprung in active mode and made a quick check. Satisfied, Sakura glanced at Sasuke. A deep frown marred her features and her lips thinned out. It was obvious Sakura was worried about the dreadful condition of Tsunade's current patient. The girl had a good, caring heart. Tsunade shifted her eyes back to what she was doing, tendons were carefully moving in flesh.

"He can…handle it. As for Naruto, from now on he is assigned to you. You are in charge of monitoring his health. When you are done with transportation, run few more thorough tests and give me the report." The girl kept on looking at still heavily breathing man. Tsunade was fairly sure the two never crossed paths before. Most likely she was linked to Sasuke's none descript personal profile once or twice. It was a first time she had a face to go along with Unit-S11921115. Tsunade would make sure to cut off any superficial attachment the girl might develop towards Sasuke. Nothing good will come out of it.

"Why are you still lingering? I gave you a task." Green eyes finally snapped out of their trance and Sakura guiltily glanced away. Finally she began moving out the room, Naruto's dead weigh drifted after her.

"Oh and I heard you did not appreciate my clever way of testing you." Tsunade's eyes shone with amusement.

"What?!NO!" Sakura immediately snapped to attention. "I loved it! I personally think it was very clever and witty. A great way to keep my…uh…mind in constant motion." Tsunade could see how sweat gathered under pink hair line.

"Is that so…"Sakura kept on vigorously nodding. "In that case you would no doubt _love_ the fact that I decided to test your bone structure knowledge along with few other things. For now I will limit your access to data archives."

"WHAT?!"

"Have fun memorising it all." The resonating groan did wonders in improving Tsunade's foul mood.

…

 **TBC**

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End file.
